Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Wholesome Fun With Whole Grains

Admittedly, mistakes were made last Friday. So perhaps to atone for my sins, I spent the rest of the weekend as wholesome as can be, holding babies, lot’s of family time, and of course, cooking. The BF and I spent Saturday in Santa Cruz feeling far worse than we had intended. Needless to say, when we woke up on Sunday we knew we had some amends to make, the first to our disgruntled bods, who were still, yes still, angry about the gin and vodka and gummi bears. We needed something that would heal our weary souls.

Soup, we determined immediately. The BF was outvoted two to one (when I really want something I count as two). It just so happened that I had been wanting to try the Mushroom Barley soup from November’s Food & Wine.

We had a mission, and with all missions, there are obstacles, namely in our case, the grocery store. As much as The BF and I would like be those kind of food people who can whip up something from nothing or cook based on ingredients just “lying around,” it’s not our forte. Unless it’s a sandwich, but that’s a different story altogether. Instead, we must drag our day two hangovers to the grocery store on a Sunday evening , at just about the time when every other person in Marin County is doing the same (sans hangover, I assume). It was foiled from the beginning.

We hit Whole Foods first; we wanted quality meat and mushrooms. My bad mood immediately sets in from crowds and it’s only exaggerated by the types of people you find at Whole Foods in San Rafael (see previous post on snobbery). And then: no pearled barley. Can you imagine? All those effin bins filled with granola, nuts, rice, grains, basically everything you could ever think of, but no pearled barley. I got that panicked, glazed look in my eyes and rushed to find The BF at the butcher counter. The headache was pulsing

“There’s no pearled barley.” I was deranged; I know because my voice hit those high octaves.

“Calm down, just calm down.” I took deep breaths as he followed me back to the dry good aisle, so that he could confirm that there really was no pearled barley.

Forty-five minutes later, after considering using hulled barley for close to ten minutes, we were at grocery store numero dos, United Market, ready to purchase pearled barley and the extra beef broth we forgot (go figure). While The BF ran in—I just couldn’t bear it—I called my mom, who in her endless quest to make sure I know just how overly indulged I act, reminded me that they always have pearled barley at Safeway. Thanks mom, noted.

At home, finally, we began to cook, and though I thought I’d at least have a couple of hours to whine about how much I hate crowded grocery stores while the soup cooked, it turned out I had less than an hour. Hence, this post; I just gotta get it out somewhere, right?

Based on just how damn delish that soup turned out, it seemed that somehow, among the aisles and people and carts, we finally undid our wrongs. If you’re looking for a little redemption yourself, I highly recommend that you make this, especially with the suggested changes. It may be the only thing you won’t regret this weekend.

4. Add the meatballs & mushroom mixture to the soup and simmer over medium heat until the meatballs are cook through and the barley is tender, about 10 minutes. Discard the thyme. Stir in the parsley and serve.

7 comments:

Hello all http://www.classyconsignmentslagrange.com/ - buy rimonabant online This is why dietitians strongly recommend the obese people to perform exercise in a regular basis and to maintain an ideal dieting schedule while undergoing Acomplia medication because it helps one to attain the better result in the form of significant weight loss.[url=http://www.classyconsignmentslagrange.com/]acomplia buy uk[/url] There are thousands of people all across the world that are able to maintain their body proportion exactly the way they want by the help of Acomplia.buy acomplia online Additionally, this drug tends to get damaged if exposed to the direct sunlight, humidity/moisture or heat.

Hello buy accutane Accutane is a big no for pregnant women.[url=http://www.cyphermakesmusic.com/]accutane pills[/url]

More Cautious Alerts for Women Keep in mind that Accutane can cause severe, life-threatening birth defects.http://www.cyphermakesmusic.com/ - accutane no prescription A pregnancy test is also required before each prescription is refilled, after you take your last dose, and one more time 30 days after.

Hi, http://www.hammondneighbors.com/ - klonopin medication Does this sound too good to be true perhaps? Think again, millions of individuals worldwide have cured their anxiety so why is it exactly that you could not do the same thing?One of the most popular of these anti-anxiety meds is known as Klonopin.[url=http://www.hammondneighbors.com/]generic clonazepam[/url]

Benzos are one of the most abused medications prescribed along with pain pills.klonopin pill

Benzodiazepines such as Klonopin are meant to be a short term solution to anxiety related problems as extended use can lead to user dependency.

Alternative Medicine Degree Online buy cheap viagra No hidden fees!Viagra is one type of herbal product that help in solving the erection dysfunction problem famously called as ED.[url=http://www.moesminis.com/]cheap viagra[/url] For some people, it gives best sexual result.http://www.moesminis.com/ - viagra drug For some people, it gives best sexual result.

About Me

Adventures of the non-city girl in the city (or parts near there), including, but not limited to: culinary adventures from eating out and eating in, nightlife adventures, "vicariously-living-through-friends" adventures, work adventures (nightmares) and anything else the author feels is necessary to write about.